Reflections and opinions following Alabama’s defeat in Neville Arena to square the season series against its fierce foe. AUBURN, Alabama No. 12 Auburn basketball defeated its rival 99-81 on Wednesday night, handily outlasting No. 16 Alabama basketball.
For the first time since the 2019–20 season, the Crimson Tide and the Tigers split the season series after the game evened the series.
It was obviously a poor effort, but the following are some of the most important lessons I learned from the defeat:
1. The paint belonged to Auburn.
I went into more detail about this last night, but it’s too crucial not to mention again here. Throughout the entire evening, Auburn thoroughly outplayed Alabama’s interior defense.As it has done for the last few games, Alabama went to a 4-guard lineup, which gave the Tigers an early advantage.
Standing six feet six Essentially playing the “4”, Rylan Griffen’s first assignment was to guard Auburn big man Jaylin Williams. Williams had a quick start and didn’t look back.
Even when Oats used larger lineups, Williams and his big man opponent Johni Broome were able to work one-on-one in the post and earn buckets as Auburn consistently looked for size mismatches.
50 points were scored in the game by Williams and Broome combined; 26 points came from Williams, a career high, and 24 from Broome, who scored 25 points the last time these two teams faced off.
Auburn outscored Alabama 42–35 in the rebounding fight, outscored the Tide 24–12 in the second chance points battle, outscored the Tide 40–26 in the points in the paint war, and forced the Tide to foul 15 more times.
It’s common knowledge that Alabama’s interior defense is arguably its weakest position. Facing up to a formidable big duo like Williams and Broome, particularly while playing on the road, is a surefire way to lose. Alabama’s inside defense is sorely lacking right now. Given the players they have available, I’m not sure how much progress can be made in that area in the remaining eight regular season games.
The favorable tidings? Not many teams can boast as many dominant big men as Auburn does, and even yet, Alabama has already triumphed over Auburn once. If the Crimson Tide faces another group of big men like that in the future, it will simply need to be perfect in other parts of the game.
2. Momentum was constantly destroyed by turnovers.
Turnovers have also been one of Alabama’s weak spots. The Crimson Tide entered the game with the 13th-highest turnover rate among the 14 SEC teams participating in conference play.
Conversely, Auburn is among the top teams in the nation in outlasting their opponents, particularly while playing at home. Another surefire way to go wrong.In the contest, Alabama turned the ball over 15 times, while Auburn only did it five times. During the first half, when Auburn increased its lead before halftime, nine of those giveaways occurred.
In fact, the game became out of control at halftime due to a multitude of consecutive turnovers. After falling behind by multiple digits early in the game, Alabama had shown an amazing amount of mental tenacity to rally and tie the score at 39 with 3:44 remaining.Alabama turned the ball over four times in the final 3:44 before halftime as Auburn responded on a 16-2 run, grabbing a 14-point lead that was capped off by a windmill slam by Williams that caused a flurry throughout Neville Arena.
The game could as well have been ended by then.
In the second half, Alabama even attempted a small comeback. After falling behind by over twenty, Grant Nelson’s three trimmed the deficit to twelve. Naturally, additional mistakes ensued, which gave Auburn the opportunity to increase their lead and win the game. There’s not much chance of winning the game when you’re already prone to turnovers and can’t handle the ball in a road setting like the Jungle.
3. The group’s perspective has not altered.
Although Alabama suffered a crushing defeat, we didn’t really discover anything new about this team. Instead, preexisting fears received a lot of reinforcement.
Alabama struggles to guard dominant big men and gives up too many balls. We were previously aware of those two facts.Alabama was the underdog in a road game against a squad that was projected to be in the top ten. That is anticipated.
The Crimson Tide still have their entire season ahead of them, even though it may not feel like it after an 18-point defeat. With two losses apiece, Alabama, Tennessee, Auburn, and South Carolina are currently tied for first place in the SEC standings.
Alabama defeated South Carolina in its lone encounter, shared the series with Auburn, and will play Tennessee again at Coleman Coliseum before the season is up.Even though the back half of the schedule is more difficult than the front, Alabama is still a strong contender for another regular season championship. It simply needs to get back on track on Saturday as it travels to pursue an undefeated season against LSU.
Yes, it hurts to lose to Auburn by a wide margin. However, not much has changed for this club overall this season, which is a good thing.
